Method and apparatus for automatically hemming cut portions of textile fabrics



Sept. 16, 1969 J. T. FRYDRYK 3,467,037

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS 0F TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 5, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 new ATTORNEY Sept 6, 1969 J.T. FRYDRYK 3,467,037

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING .CUT PORTIONS 0F TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 5, 1968 I 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1969 J.'r. FRYDRYK 3,457,037

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS OF TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 3 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Joy/v 7. F? YD}? YKBYM;

ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1969 J. T. FRYDRYK 3,467,037

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS OF TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 5 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1969 J. T.FRYDRYK METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS OFTEXTILE FABRICS 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 5 1968 i LV ATTORNEY.-

J. T. FRYDRYK Sept. 16, 1969 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLYHEMMING CUT PORTIONS OF TEXTILE FABRICS 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed May 51968 LVVENTOR. JOHN T FRYDRYK J. T. FRYDRYK Sept. 16, 1969 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS 0F TEXTILE FABRICS V 9Sheets-Sheet '7 Filed May 5 1968 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1969 A J.r. FRYDRYK 3 ,0

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS OF TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 5 1968 I 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 fix m;

ATTORNEY Sept. 16, 1969 J. "r. FRYDRYK 3,467,037

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY HEMMING CUT PORTIONS 0F TEXTILEFABRICS Filed May 5 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 T '1r:.1'7. 306 EE g ./-3 4 YE Q E 300 E l\\\\ \\l E Q g .423 346 I 306 g O l O INVENTOR ATTORNEYUnited States Patent METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATI- CALLY HEMMINGCUT PORTIONS OF TEX- TILE FABRICS .Iohn T. Frydryk, Springfield, Mass.,assignor to Johnson & Johnson, a corporation of New Jersey Filed May 3,1968, Ser. No. 726,372 Int. Cl. Db 37/04 US. Cl. 112-12115 17 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method for continually manufacturing cutand hemmed pieces of textile fabric. A continuous length of fabric isfed to an intermittently rotating surface and successive pieces are cutfro-m the fabric while it is on the rotating surface. The pieces aredeposited on a series of moving surfaces which move in a path parallelto a tangent of the rotating surface. After each piece is deposited on amoving surface the rotating surface is stopped while continuing themovement of the moving surface and turning the moving surface 90. Therotating surface is then started to deposit another piece of cut fabricon a subsequent moving surface while the first cut piece has itsautomatically cut edges folded and hemmed.

This invention relates to method and apparatus for continuously andautomatically manufacturing cut pieces of textile fabric which havetheir cut edges hemmed to form such products as diapers, pillow cases,towels, etc.

There are a number of methods and machines for automatically producingcut pieces of material, for example, US. Patents 3,097,773 and 3,149,517show automatic machines for accomplishing such methods. These machinesgenerally have one major problem in that it is difiicult to processsquare pieces of material on the machines and they are more or lesspreferably designed to handle rectangular pieces of material which makemany of the processing problems somewhat simpler.

In accordance with the present invention I have developed a method andmachine wherein both rectangular and square pieces of material may behandled equally well. In accordance with the present invention I combinea feeding technique along with a cutting technique both of which areadaptable to handling limp textile fabrics. These steps are combinedwith a technique for depositing the cut pieces on a moving surface andcontrolling the movement of both the surface on which the material iscut r and the moving surface in such a Way that it may 'be utilized tohandle various shaped cut pieces.

The invention will be more fully described in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the machine in accordance withthe present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the feed portion of the machineof FIGURE 1 being enlarged to more clearly show the feeding mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a crosssectional view of the rotating cutting surface of themachine in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the knife operating onthe rotating cutting surface and which moves across the rotatingsurface;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view of the means for controlling the drive ofthe rotating, cutting surface;

FIGURE 7 is a side view taken along line 77 of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a side view taken along line 88 of FIG- URE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a top view of one of the moving surfaces on which cut piecesare deposited;

FIGURE 10 is a top view of the mechanism for controlling the movement ofthe surface on which the material is deposited;

FIGURE 11 is similar to FIGURE 10 with the mechanism in a differentposition;

FIGURE 12 is a top view of the depositing surface and the means forhemming and sewing the pieces and cutting the sewn thread;

FIGURE 13 is a side elevation view of the hemming apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 14 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 1414 of FIGURE 13showing the automatic folding mechanism;

FIGURE 15 is similar to FIGURE 14 but taken at line 1515 of FIGURE 13;

FIGURE 16 is similar to FIGURE 14 but taken at line 1616 of FIGURE 13;

FIGURE 17 is a cross-sectional view of another means for controlling thedrive of the rotating and cutting surface;

FIGURE 18 is a side view taken along line 1818 of FIGURE 17.

Referring to FIGURE 1 the machine may be broken down into three majorcomponents the first being the portion for continuously feeding textilefabric from which cut, hemmed pieces are to be made. The second portioncomprises the section for cutting portions from the textile fabric andthe third portion comprises the means upon which the cut portions areplaced along with the means for automatically hemming the cut edges.

A continuous length of textile fabric is fed to the rotating, cuttingsurface 31. The rotating, cutting surface is driven intermittently aswill hereinafter be described. The feed of the material is coincidedwith the driving of the rotating, cutting surface. This is accomplishedby passing the material about a group of three rolls. Two of the rolls32 and 33 are in the same horizontal plane and the third roll 34 ispositioned between these two rolls but is placed in a mechanism 35 forcontrolling the tension of the fabric as fed. At the same time acaterpillar track 36 also controls the tension and together they take upany slack and provide a controlled intermittent feed of the continuoustextile material. The material is fed about the rotating, cuttingsurface 31 and clamped thereon and cut into pieces. These pieces aredeposited on a conveyor 37 comprising a plurality of tables 38 with thetables moving in a plane parallel to a tangent to the rotating surfaceand immediately adjacent thereto. As the cutting surface rotates a cutpiece is desposited on a table. The cutting surface is stopped and thetable continues to move forwardly and the next table placed intoposition with the rotating cutting surface. As soon as the next table isin position the cutting surface is again activated and another piecedeposited on the next table. The first table meanwhile moves forwardly,is turned 90 and is presented to an automatic folding and sewingmechanism 39 to continuously sew the cut edges. The threads betweentables are clipped by standard shears 40 and the clipped ends taken awayby means of vacuum 41. The tables move onwardly about the conveyor tothe underneath pass. The cut and sewn pieces are released from thetables and deposited on another conveyor 42 to take them to suitablepackaging or for other processing means.

Referring to FIGURE 2 a roll of cloth is mounted for rotation insuitable bearings 51 mounted in framing 53. This roll of cloth is to befed to the rotating cutting surface which is not shown in this drawing.Since the rotating cutting surface rotates intermittently it isimportant that the roll of cloth be controlled as it is being fed. Theroll of cloth has so much mass, especially when a new roll is beingused, that it is extremely difficult to start and stop this process.Hence, the cloth is driven by means of a caterpillar drive 53. Thecaterpillar drive consists of a continuous, frictional track 54 mountedon a pair of rollers 55 and 56. These rollers are supported fromsuitable framing 57 mounted from the basic frame. One of the rollers isdriven by a suitable motor and the roller in turn drives the track anddrives the cloth as shown. The cloth moves about a guide roller 58 andthrough a tension and control device 59 which comprises two rolls 60 and61 mounted for rotation in bearings 62 and 63 mounted in suitableframing 64. These two rolls are in the same horizontal plane. Betweenthese rolls and mounted for rotation in a slideable groove 65 is anotherroll 66. The cloth is fed over the first roll 60 about the slideablymovable roll 66 and back around the second roll 61. If desired, gearracks may be mounted in the grooves 65 and roll 66 provided withsuitable gears to run in these racks. The use of the gear racks willprevent the roll from tilting in the event uneven tension is placedacross the width of the fabric during operation. The shaft of theslideable grooved roll 66 extends through the groove and is connected bya cord or rope 68 about a pulley 69 with a weight 70 on the other end ofthe cord to maintain suitable tension on the roll 66 at all times. Thismay be more clearly seen in FIGURE 3. The roll of cloth is fed at agiven speed, slower than the speed of the rotating cutting surface. Therotating surface operating intermittently only needs cloth at certaintimes and the two speeds (speed of the cloth being fed and rotatingcutting surface speed) are correlated such that the rotating surface canpick up cloth by pulling the loop in the cloth formed by the slideablymovable roll 66. The tension is maintained on the cloth by the weight ofthis roll along with the weight 70 and as the rotating surface requirescloth the roll is moved upwardly in its slideable groove. When therotating surface is stopped so that no more tension is placed on thecloth the full roll of cloth is still continuously fed and the weight ofthe slideably movable roll causes the roll to move downwardly in itssliding groove and pick up the slack of the roll of cloth.

By this means the roll of cloth is continuously fed while beingmaintained under constant tension at all times and the cloth isuniformly fed to the intermittently rotating cutting surface. If desiredthere may be a microswitch at the bottom of the slideable groove so thatwhen the drive on the rotating cutting surface is stopped thecaterpillar drive is also stopped on the roll of cloth but the inertiain the supply roll will cause the roll to continue rotating somewhatwhich inertia is taken up by the slack in the slideably grooved roll. Ifthe inertia is suflicient to cause roll 66 to reach its bottommostposition the microswitch is activated and a suitable auxiliary brake maybe used to stop the roll of cloth. The main purpose of this feedmechanism is to level out and apply a uniform feed to the intermittentlyrotating cutting surface.

Referring to FIGURES 4 and 5 the cutting drum 78 comprises a pair of endplates 79 and 80 secured to the opposite ends of the metal cylinder 81.The cylinder consists of three 120 segments. The segments are actuallyslightly less than 120 of the surface of the cylinder since they arearranged so that they define between them three cutter slots eachextending widthwise of the cylinder. One of these slots 82 is shown indetail in FIGURE 10. The drum is mounted for rotation upon a fixed shaft83 which in turn is mounted for rotation in suitable framing not shown.Each of the end plates is secured to a bushing 84. A drive gear 85integral with one end of one of the bushings is provided for driving thedrum. The drive gear meshes with mechanism for intermittently drivingthis drum as will be described hereinafter.

As shown most clearly in FIGURE 5 the cutter and drum clamps 91 areassociated with each of the cutter slots and rotate with the slots andthe drum. There is a pair of cutter clamps for each slot at each end ofthe drum, one clamp on each side of the slot. For clarity only theclamps for one side end are shown and described since they are to be thesame at each end of each slot.

Each of the cutters is in the form of an electrically driven circularknife 92 mounted for rotation from a cutter unit 90 which in turn isadapted for axial movement on the drum while it rotates therewith. Eachknife 92 is mounted in the end of an arm 93 extending from an electricmotor 94. The motor is mounted in the cradle 95 integral with the top ofa vertical standard 96 extending upwardly of the hollow cutter sleeve97. The sleeve defines a square opening 98 which extends through thesleeve lengthwise thereof. Each of the cutter units is mounted formotion axially of the drum on a square shaft 99 which fits into thesquare longitudinal opening of the sleeve and is secured at each of itsends to one of the drum discs by suitable means. Since the squareopening in the cutter sleeve fits the square shaft the cutter unit iskeyed to the shaft in motion with respect thereto only in the directionof the length of the shaft. Each of the cutter shafts is positionedradially below or inwardly of its corresponding cutter slot so that thecutter sleeves travel across the drum just inside the drum cylindersegments. The vertical standard 96 is necked down in width somewhatwhere it passes through the slot 82 so as to minimize the width of theslot. A cam follower roller 100 for moving the cutter unit transverselyof the drum is secured in a boss 101 at the bottom of each of the cuttersleeves. The cutter first passes from one side of the drum to the otherin its corresponding cutter slot to cut through the material and thenreturn to the first side of the drum and remain there until another cutis initiated. The motion of the cutting unit across the drum occursduring a relatively small segment of the drums rotation say 60 and thecutting and return motions of the cutting unit preferably are spacedabout 180 from one another. Thus the cutter itself need only be turningin the cutter arm during a small portion of the travel of the drum.Intermittent cutter operation may be achieved by supplying powerintermittently to the cutter motors. This technique for applying powerto the cutter sleeves is more fully explained in United States PatentNo. 3,149,517 and since it forms no part of the present invention it isnot repeated here.

The cutter clamps 91 are in the form of an arm which may be shaped froma piece of heavy metal wire. The wire is bent 90 to provide straight armportion 105 and a rear axle portion 106 so that it may be mounted at itsrear end in such a way that its tip may be pressed down upon or liftedoff a portion of the surface of the drum merely by rotating its rearaxle portion. The axle portion is mounted for rotation in a boss 107extending upwardly from a clamp sleeve 108. The clamp sleeve, like thecutter sleeve, contains a square opening 109 extending lengthwise of thesleeve and is fitted over a square clamp shaft 110 for axially movementalong the shaft. Again the clamp shaft fits in the square opening of theclamp sleeve in such a way as to prevent motion in the sleeve withrespect to the shaft in any direction except longitudinally of theshaft. As shown in FIGURES 4 and 5 a cutter track 112 and a pair ofidentical but oppositely faced drum cams 113 and 114 are mounted on asleeve 115 secured to the fixed shaft inside the drum. The cutter trackis made of the track-guide or strip on one side of the track and one ofthe drum cams on the other side of the track except in the inclinedsections and where the track crosses the drum. The inclined sectionguides the cutter during its cutting stroke and this section returns thecutter to the first side of the drum. The sections are made up of a pairof spaced strips which are mounted on supporting arms which are fixed tothe sleeve. Each of the drum cams is in the form of a pair of flangedcircular plates fixed to the opposite ends of the sleeve on the axlejust inside of the drum discs. Each of the oppositely facing drum camsoperates the clamps at one end of the drum and controls the cutter unitswhen they are at the end of the drum. By suitable compression springs,or other means at the end of the clamps, the clamps can be urged intothe upright position as material is being fed onto the surface of thedrum and then the compression springs released so that the clamps clampthe material to the surface just prior to activating the cutter. Thematerial is cut as the drum is rotating and when the drum reaches itsvery bottom point of its path the clamps may again be released to dropthe cut portions of the material from the cutting surface.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 9 a plurality of tables pass in a planeparallel to the tangent at the bottom most portion of the path of therotating cutting surface and immediately adjacent this rotating cuttingsurface. The material is clamped to the cutting drum as described andpulled around the drum. During the time it moves with the drum the stripis cut into blanks by the cutters associated with the drum. Each of theblanks is positioned on one of the tables just as the table passes underthe drum. The surface of the drum and the tables move in the samedirection and at the same linear speed as the transfer is accomplished.Tables supporting the blanks continue forward at the same speed. 'Eachof the tables 125 is secured to a vertical shaft 126. As the tables passfrom beneath the rotating cutting surface they are rotated 90 whilebeing moved forward at the same linear speed so that the cut edges ofthe blanks now extend in the direction of the linear travel of thetables. As the tables are turned, table clamps 151 are actuated as willbe described more fully hereinafter. The tables continue to move in thesame path at the same linear speed to present both of the cut edges to apair of sewing machines mounted on each side of the machine.

The cut edges of the blanks overlap the end of each table so that theseedges may be folded and sewn with out the table interferring with thisoperation.

As shown in FIGURE 9 the table clamps 127 are provided at each corner ofthe table. Each clamp may be formed from a bent metal wire and is moreor less C shape with one leg of the C acting as an axle 149 for thepivotal motion of the clamp and the other leg acting as a clamping bar151 for holding the blank on the table. In the figure the clamps areshown in full in their unclamped position and in phantom in theirclamped position.

Referring to FIGURES 9, 10, and 11 the table is securd to a verticalshaft 126 which in turn is caused to rotate at the appropriate time toturn the table 90 with respect to its original position. The shaftextends through a table cam 152 Which in turn moves mainly with thetable but is fixed against rotative movement therewith.

Each of the clamps 127 is mounted in an inclined bushing 153 secured atan angle to an edge portion of the underside of the table. A portion 154of larger diameter at the inner end of each clamp is connected to atransverse shaft 155 which connects the clamps at each end of the table.The clamps are connected to the shaft by flexible spring connectors 156and the shafts are mounted for rotation in similar bushings 157 attachedto the underside of the table. The bushing at one end of each of theshafts is slit to provide a housing for a gear 158 which is keyed to theshaft. Riding underneath each of the gears and meshing therewith is aseparate rack 159 which slides along the underside of the bottom of thetable. The racks are connected to opposite ends of the cam followerrocker arm 161 by pins 162 which extend from a link 163 at the end ofthe rack into a hole at each end of the rocker arm. The rocker arm ismounted on a stub shaft 164 which is tapped into the table and extendsdownwardly therefrom. The stub shaft may be in the form of a screwhaving a head which holds the rocker arm against the bottom of thetable. A cam follower 165 for the table cam 152 is mounted on a leg 166extending from one side of the rocker arm and a tension spring 167secured to the bottom of the table is attached to the adjacent end ofthe rocker arm so that the cam follower normally is urged into contactwith the table cam. The table cam is almost circular in shape but hasone depression 168 which corresponds with the unclamped position of thetable clamps. If the table is turned with respect to the table cam sothat the cam follower can enter the depression it will do so since it isurged in that direction by the tension spring. This will move both ofthe racks inwardly of the shafts to rotate each of the clamps into anunclamped position. This position of the table cam with respect to thecam follower corresponds to the position of the table as it passesunderneath the cutting drum. As the table makes the turn preceding thesewing machine it turns with respect to the table cam and the followerrises onto the circular portion of the cam and moves the rack so as torotate the table clamps to the clamping position. The clamps remain inthis position until the tables are again rotated to their originalposition at the underside of the front end of the machine just beforethey again approach the cutting drum. Roughened portions or prongs maybe provided on the underside of the clamps to assist in holding theblanks more firmly in position.

If desired, the sewing machines may be placed all on the same side ofthe machine and the tables turned another to present the second cut edgeof the blank to the second sewing machine in the same manner as is donewith the first cut edge. After both edges are sewn the table is rotateda final 90 at the underside of the machine to release the blank.

The method and means by which the table is guided in its path androtated with respect thereto is best shown in FIGURES 10 and 11. Fourrollers 172 are mounted at the ends of guide arms 173 and the rollersare spaced equally about the table shaft 126 and extend 90 to oneanother from the hollow sleeve 174 which is fixed to the table shaft.Each of the tables is guided in its linear movement in a given pathdetermined by the side plates 130. Two of the follower rollers alwaysare in contact with one of the side plates while the other two are incontact with the other side plate, except when one of the rollers isunder control of one of the turning and indexing units 197. There aretwo turning and indexing units all located in the right hand side plate,one adjacent the top and designed to operate during the top pass of thetables and one adjacent the bottom at the front of the machine anddesigned to operate during the bottom pass of the tables.

The operation of all of the turning and indexing units is as follows:the unit is in the form of a block 198 which fits into an opening in theright side plate. The block protrudes inwardly of the side plate and hasa passage 199 which communicates with the front and rear edges of theblock and is opened to the top of the block. The block is held inposition on the side plate by screws extending into the side plate froma flange extending from the block. The block and the passage in theblock are so located that as one of the tables and its correspondingguide arms and follower rollers move forwardly with its rollers incontact with its guide plates the leading roller L in contact with theright side plate enters the front end of the passage in the block. Thetop surface of the block is located below the guide arms and the sideplate is cut out above the block so as to allow the arms to pass overthe block when the lead roller is under control of the passage in theblock. The left side plate is relieved or cut out between the points Eand F so as not to contact the follower rollers on the left side of themachine when one of the follower rollers on the right side of themachine is under control in the passage of the turning and indexingblock. Looking at the top of the block the passage 199 in the block is aY shape. The portions 203 and 204 communicating with the front and rearportions of the block respectively forming the top of the Y and anotherportion 205 extending outwardly of and normal to the right side plateforming the base of the Y. It is the purpose of the block to hold theroller so that the guide arms pivot 90 as the table and carriage unitpass the block. This is accomplished without disturbing the straightline linear movement of the center of the table and carriage unit, thispoint being represented by the vertical table shaft 126. The leadingfollower roller enters the top of the Y shape passage at the front edgeof the block moving outwardly slightly along this side of the top of theY and then moves out into the base 205 of the Y. When under control ofthis part of the Y shaped passage the roller L can only move in thedirection normal to the linear movement of the tables, thus the rolleris held effectively against the motion and direction of the path of thetables. To assure that the leading roller moves from the front portion203 of the Y shaped passage into the base 205 of the Y a swinging gate206 is provided. The gate is in the form of a plate which is fitted inthe recess 207 in the top of the block and mounted for pivotal movementon a pin 208 located on the transverse center line of the block near itsinnermost edge. The recess is shaped to allow the gate to swing from oneposition where it blocks off the front half of the Y shaped passage toanother position where it blocks off the rear half of the Y shapedpassage. The gate normally is urged by a tension spring into theposition where it blocks off the front half of the passage. The edges ofthe gate where it extends into the passage are curved to provide acurved corner in the passage. As the leading roller enters the fronthalf of the top of the Y shaped passage it contacts the gate shown inphantom in this position in FIGURE 10 and pushes it into the positionshown in full in FIG- URE 10 where it blocks off the rear or exitportion of the top of the passage. When the tables reach this positionin the linear path that causes the roller to move inwardly in the baseof the passage and finally out of the block to the rear or exit portionof the top of the passage the roller is free to do so because the gatewill have moved back to its original position as shown in full in FIGURE11 under the pull of a suitable compression spring. Thus the tableeffectively rotates at 90 while moving lineally in the same straightline path at the same speed as it was when all four rollers were incontact with the two side plates.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the cloth being cut is continuous, however, thereis a space between each table which is required in order to rotate thetable at 90 to be able to sew the cut edges. This is extremely importantwhen utilizing square tables for use with square blanks and there mustbe sufficient space to allow this movement. There must also be space forthe sewing and clipping of the sewn hems as will be hereinafterdescribed. Hence, to operate on square pieces or square blanks themovement of the table is continuous and hence, the movement of therotating cutting surface must be intermittent and must be coincided sothat the cutting surface only rotates as long as there is a portion ofone of the tables directly underneath its bottommost portion. Wheneverthere is an opening under the rotating, cutting surface its rotationmust be stopped. This movement is controlled by means of a drive clutchand stop mechanism, more clearly shown in FIGURES 6, 7, and 8.

Mounted on the shaft 230 of the drum is a gear 231. This gear mesheswith a second gear 232 mounted on the driven shaft 233. Mounted on theopposite end of the driven shaft is a single revolution clutch 234. Theclutch comprises a sleeve 235 which is driven by a suitable motor,chain, and pulley. Power is applied to the sleeve and housing 236 bymeans of a sprocket 237 and this is the driving member which rotatescontinuously. The hub 238 which carries the trip mechanism 239 is keyedto the shaft of the drum and is the intermittently driven member. Asmore clearly shown in FIGURE 7 the trip lever 240 rides on the contourof the clutch trip cam 241 until it contacts the step or stop 242. Atthis point the driven shaft continues to rotate at approximately 5 butnot more than 15 to release the clutch. During this period the trip cam241 swings on a pivot pin 243 moving the trip block 244 to rotate thecage 245 with respect to the hub 238 and force the clutch rollers out ofdriving contact.

Mounted on the gear on the rotating cutting surface is a cam 250. Thiscam has three stops 251 or steps on it approximately apart which stopsor steps coincide with each slot on the cutting drum. A trip lever 252having a depending stop 253 is positioned from suitable framing 254 andpivotally mounted 255 fi'om the frame so that its depending portionrides on this cam. As the drum rotates when a slot gets in the correctposition, that is, directly underneath the lowest point of the rotationof the cutting surface the depending portion 253 of the trip leverengages a stop on the cam. A second pivotal member 256 mounted at theopposite end of the trip lever moves downwardly. This member isconnected by suitable framing 257 to the trip lever 240 riding on theclutch which engages the clutch and stops the rotation of the surface ofthe cutting drum. It is held in this position for the desired time and amicroswitch is actuated to supply air to the cylinder 258 which drivesthe top lever on the clutch upwardly and removes the stop from the camon the drum allowing the drum to continue its rotation until anotherstop is met in the large cam. The trip levers are controlled by the aircylinder which is controlled by a suitable microswitch. This microswitchmay be activated by either the tables, that is, as the tables move acertain distance from the bottommost point of the cutting surface theyactuate a microswitch which in turn applies air to the cylinder andraises the stops to allow a further rotation of the drum, or thismicroswitch might be actuated by the continually driven shaft byactivating a microswitch after the shaft has turned a certain portion ofits rotation.

Referring to FIGURES 17 and 18 there is shown another means forcontrolling the movement of the rotating and cutting surface without theuse of a clutch. Mounted on the shaft 300 carrying the cutting drum is agear 301. The gear teeth have been removed at three locations 302 aboutthe periphery of the gear and these spaces are equidistant apart. Thegear is driven by a second gear 303 mounted on a shaft 304 which isdriven by a suitable motor and pulley 305.

The large gear 301 has three fingers 306 mounted on its back portionimmediately behind the area with the teeth removed. The smaller gear 303has one finger 307 mounted on its rear portion. These fingers are set sothat when the teeth of the smaller gear meet the area of the larger gearhaving no teeth the drum stops rotating for the desired length of timeuntil the finger on the small gear engages the finger on the large gearand causes the teeth to engage and drive the drum.

A locking means is also employed to hold the drum in a set position whennot being positively driven. This locking means comprises an arm 310mounted from suitable framing. At the end of the arm and mounted fromthe arm by a pivot 311 is a lever 312 having a dog 313 which rides on aWheel 314. The wheel is keyed to and rotates with the shaft 300. Thereare three equidistant stops 315 in the periphery of the wheel. Thesestops are positioned so that when the teeth of the small gear meet theflat area 302 of the large gear the dog 313 falls into the stop 315 andholds the cutting drum in place. The dog is released from the stop bymeans of an eccentric motion mounted on the lower shaft 304. This motioncomprises a wheel 320 rotating with the shaft 304. A smaller rollerwheel 321 is mounted on the surface of wheel 32.0. This wheel runs in asemicircular track 322 mounted on a rod 323 pivotally mounted from thelever 312. When the roller meets the flat portion of the track it raisesthe lever releasing the dog and allowing the cutting drum to rotate.

The blanks after being clamped on the table and the table turned 90 thenhave their cut edges folded and hemmed. The automatic hemming device ismore clearly shown in FIGURES 1'2 through 16. Positioned at the heightof the upper reach of the tables are a pair of sewing heads, one on eachside of the machine. As previously mentioned, the cut edge 280 of theblank 281 overlaps the edge of the table 282 from one-half to one andone half inches or so and this portion of material is picked up by achain drive 283 and the edge passed through an automatic hemmer 284.This automatic hemmer is a specifically spiraled convoluted piece ofsheet metal. The metal is fiat and it initially contacts the cloth andrests just beneath the cloth with the chain drive on top thereof. As thecloth moves along this piece of sheet metal the outer edge of the sheetmetal is curved inwardly 295 (FIG. 14) and as it continues to movetowards the sewing head it is curved into a spiral 295 (FIG. 16) whichin turn forms a spiral in the cloth. The convoluting sheet metal endsand the cloth as it moves forwardly continues with its spiral flattenedout so that its edge is folded inwardly over itself. This edge thenpasses through a shoe 290 along with a second chain 291 having pins 292on the surface thereof to positively grip the material as it passesthrough the shoe. As the material passes through the shoe it is sewn byany standard sewing machine utilizing a standard stitch. As the materialcontinues the thread 293 from the sewing machine being operatedcontinuously forms a stitch between each blank. The thread between eachblank is clipped by a pair of clippers 294 which are actuatedintermittently. As the table continues the cut thread is picked up bysuitable vacuum means 285 such as a suction head, and drawn outwardlyfrom the table. A second clipper 286 positioned as shown, has the threadmoved directly into its mouth and is intermittently actuated to clip theloose end 287 and remove it by the vaccum means 285.

If desired further chain drives may be positioned underneath the topchain drive to give even more positive control on the edge of the clothas it is going through the folding and sewing operations.

Referring back to FIGURE 1 the tables are passed about the end of aconveyor 300 and when in the lower reach 301 of the conveyor the tablerotated back 90, the clamps open and the sewn blanks are dropped to amoving surface 42 which takes the blanks to either packaging or furtherprocessing.

The operation of the various parts of the machine of this invention maybe timed with respect to one another by various conventional devices andtechniques. Many of the drives and frames and standard mechanicaldevices as are well known in the art have been omitted from both thedrawings and the description for the sake of clarity.

In operation the cloth is fed to the top of the cutting drum. If desiredit may be printed or otherwise marked as it is being fed to the cuttingdrum. The cloth moves about the drum on which there are three knivesequally spaced about the drum. Both sides of the knives have clampswhich clamp the material and the material is cut between these clamps.The material as out then comes around the under surface of the drum,simultaneously the tables moves immediately adjacent the bottom mostportion of the drum. There is a minimum clearance maintained between thetable and the drum. It is preferred that the table moves immediatelyadjacent the bottom most cloth when dropped thereon is dropped in aposition and held in that position as it continues. The drum is stoppedand the table continued until the next table immediately comesunderneath the drum. The first table is turned 90 and the cloth clampedthereon and the cut edges are folded and sewn as previously described.By the surface of the table and clamping on the table the cloth iscarried under positive control through the folding and sewing operation.As the edges are sewn the thread is cut between each blank. Suction thenpulls the loose edges of the cut thread outwardly and the rear thread ofthe first piece is clipped and the front thread of the next piececlipped. The tables are then moved underneath the conveyor, turned theclamps opened and the second blank deposited on another conveyor forfurther processing while the table is returned to the drum.

Iclaim:

1. A method for continuously manufacturing pieces of textile fabrichaving two opposed cut edges hemmed comprising: (a) fee-ding acontinuous length of material from which the hemmed pieces are to beproduced to a rotating surface, (b) clamping said material to saidrotating surface, (0) transversely cutting said clamped material, ((1)depositing successive cut pieces on a plurality of spaced tables movingin the same direction as the rotating surface and at substantially thesame peripheral linear speed and in a path substantially parallel to atangent to said rotating surface and immediately adjacent thereto duringsaid deposition, (e) stopping the rotating surface while continuing themovement of said tables, (f) turning a table with a piece thereon 90 andclamping the cut piece to said table, (g) starting the rotating surfacewhen the first portion of the subsequent table is immediately below therotating surface to deposit a subsequent piece on the subsequent table,(h) automatically folding the cut edges of said out piece while it isturned 90, (i) sewing the folded edges of said out pieces withcontinuous thread, and (j) severing the thread between each of said outpieces to produce a plurality of separate pieces of sheet materialhaving their cut edges hemmed.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the pieces of textilefabric have a square configuration.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the cut edges are foldedtwice to produce a smooth hem.

4. A method according to claim 1 wherein the cut thread between eachpiece of textile fabric is further cut and removed from the cut piece.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the sewn piece with the threadcut is removed from the table and the table is returned to receiveanother cut piece from the rotating surface.

6. A method according to claim 1 wherein the pieces of the textilefabric have a square configuration and the cut thread between pieces isfurther cut and removed from each piece.

7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein the pieces of textilefabric have a square configuration, the cut edges of the cut piece arefolded twice to produce a smooth hem, the thread after being cut betweenpieces is further cut and removed from each piece, and the cut and sewnpiece is removed from the table and the table returned to its initialposition to receive another cut piece from the rotating surface.

8. An automatic machine for producing a plurality of pieces of materialhaving cut and hemmed edges from a continuous strip of said materialcomprising: (a) a -rotatable cutting cylinder, (b) means for rotatingsaid cutting cylinder, (c) means for supplying a continuous strip ofmaterial to said rotatable cutting cylinder, (d) at least one cuttermounted on said rotatable cutting cylinder and moving axially of saidcylinder and adapted to cut through the strip of material passingcircumferentially around the cylinder from edge to edge of the strip tosever successive pieces of material from this strip as the cylinderrotates, (e) front and rear clamping means clamping front and rear edgeportions respectively of each of the pieces of material prior to,during, and after the aforesaid cutting operation, (f) a plurality ofspaced apart individual work supporting tables moving under the saidcylinder in the same direction as the periphery of said cylinder and atapproximately the same linear speed in a path substantially parallel toa tangent to the surface of said cylinder and immediately adjacent thesurface of said cylinder, (g) means responsive to the relative rotativeposition of the cylinder for activating said front clamping means torelease the front end of each piece of material to allow it to rest uponthe front end of one of the tables approximately when the front edge ofthe piece passes under the midpoint of said cylinder and for activatingsaid rear clamping means holding the same piece of material to releasethe rear end of said piece to allow it to rest upon the rear end of thesame table approximately when the rear end of this piece of materialreaches the mid-point on the bottom of said cylinder, (h) means forarresting the rotation of said cylinder when the rear end of one tablepasses the mid-point of the bottom of said cylinder until the front endof the next table reaches the mid-point of the bottom of said cylinder,(i) means for turning the work supporting table 90, (j) means forclamping the piece of material to the work supporting table, (k) meansfor folding the cut edges of the piece of material, (l) means for sewingeach cut edge with a continuous thread, (m) means for severing thethread between each piece, and (11) means for releasing the piece fromsaid work support table.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein there are a plurality ofcutters mounted on said rotatable cutting cylinder.

10. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the work supporting tableshave a square configuration.

-11. Apparatus according to claim 8 including means for controlling thesupply of material to the rotatable cutting cylinder so that it iscontinually supplied uniformly even while said rotatable cutting surfaceis arrested.

12. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the means for folding the cutedges comprises a spiral tube for double folding said cut edges.

13. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the means for sewing each cutedge with a continuous thread comprises a pair of sewing machinesmounted on each side of the apparatus to simultaneously sew both outedges.

14. Apparatus according to claim 8 including means for further cuttingthe cut threads of each piece and removing the cut portions of thethread.

15. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the work 40 supporting tableshave a square configuration and the means for sewing the cut edgescomprise a pair of sewing machines mounted on opposite sides of theapparatus for simultaneously sewing the cut edges.

16. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the work supporting tableshave a square configuration, the means for folding the cut edges of thematerial comprises a spiral tube for double folding of the cut edge, ameans for sewing each cut edge with a continuous thread comprising apair of sewing machines mounted on opposite sides of the machine forsimultaneously sewing the cut edges and means for further cutting eachcut thread at the edge of the cut piece and removing the cut portion ofthe thread.

17. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein there are a plurality ofcutters mounted on the rotatable cutting cylinder, the work supportingtables have a square configuration, means are provided to uniformlycontinually supply material even while the rotating cylinder isarrested, the folding means comprises a spiral for double folding thecut edges, the means for sewing each cut edge comprises a pair of sewingmachines mounted on opposite sides of the apparatus for simultaneouslysewing folded, cut edges, and means for further cutting the cut threadsof each piece at the edge of each piece and removing the cut portions ofthe thread.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,355,766 8/1944 Westhoff 112-1412,940,404 6/1960 Damon 112--10 2,989,935 6/1961 Butler 112-252 3,097,7337/ 1963 Frydryk.

3,143,987 8/1964 Daniel et a1 112-252 3,149,517 9/1964 Frydryk 831553,192,885 7/1965 Timm.

3,232,256 2/ 1966 Buckalter.

3,296,986 1/1967 Gansl.

JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 112-147, 203, 262

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No.3,467,037 September 16, 1969 John T. Prydryk It is certified that errorappears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent arehereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, lines 48 and 49, "scurd" should read secured Column 9, line65, "moves immediately adjacent the bottom most" should read have asandpaper or routh surface so that the Column 11, line 20, "support"should read supporting Signed and sealed this llth day of August 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. E.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

